“Venice is incredible. Although you may have seen it in pictures, you can’t grasp how beautiful it is until you visit.” – Gino D’Acampo

As I landed at Marco Polo airport, looking out over Venice with the sun setting, I knew it was going to be a special city. Debbie and I were very lucky with the weather and although it was REALLY cold, it was sunny every day. Staying just a couple of minutes away from Piazza San Marco, we got up at 6am FOUR mornings on the trot (yes, you read that right) to watch the sunrise there…I don’t think that’s ever happened to me before (and I have a witness)!! The early morning light was beautiful and of course I had to take the obligatory sunrise shot – but stopped short of the long exposure blurred boats. One morning we had a run-in with a group of (male) German photographers who were determined to stand in the exact spot we were already standing in – only to meet their match…needless to say we weren’t budging! We were lucky enough to have aqua alte each morning, where the water covers the main Piazza and several other low lying areas – special walkways are erected to avoid wet feet, but the water gave some great reflections.

We spent two and a half days wandering around the little alleyways, soaking up the atmosphere. Even in January there were plenty of tourists around the usual hotspots, but it was easy to lose the crowds. I must admit I found it difficult to take my usual ‘street’ photos, especially as we didn’t really come across many Venetians going about their business, apart from early mornings in Pasticceria drinking a quick coffee on the way to work. Very much enjoyed my breakfast croissant and hot chocolate (best ever tasted)! Everywhere was so scenic, that I couldn’t always see past the postcard views and it took me a while to get into my stride. You felt like you were on a film set and it must be amazing during Carnevale, with all of the costumes.

Being tight wads we didn’t pay the €110 for a Gondola trip, but at least other tourists did, so we could get a few pictures of them in action. It was so cold, that the gondoliers were wearing their straw boaters on top of woolly hats – did wonder if North Face had a contract with them, seeing all of the padded black jackets they were wearing!

On the last full day we spent a very enjoyable morning/afternoon sitting in the sunshine watching the world go by, moving from morning coffee, to aperitivo (Aperol Spritz of course) to lunch (spaghetti with cuttlefish ink) then gelato…even warm enough to take off my coat!!

And of course we had the obligatory hysterics multiple times, due to consuming too much sugar and getting up too early – was often a struggle managing the 5 flights of stairs to our attic apartment in the throws of an hysterical moment!! Thoroughly recommend Venice for a long weekend out of season and I have a funny feeling we’ll be returning….

P.S. I managed to contain my excitement over the washing and not post any!

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